Beith, Alexander 1799 - 1891

The divine and author was born at Campbeltown, Argyleshire, Scotland on 13 January 1799. His parents were Gilbert Beith and Helen Elder, land agents and farmers in the Kintyre district (Kirk 122). His father read widely in theology and church histury. Beith entered Glasgow University to study for the ministry and was licensed by the presbytery of Kintyre on 7 Feb. 1821. He worked at the chapel-of-ease in Oban and the Hope Street Church of Glasgow. In 1826, he went to the parish of Kilbrandon, Argyleshire and in 1830 to the parish of Glenelg, Invernesshire. He married Julia Robson and had fourteen children. When the agitation on the subject of spiritual independance was reaching a crisis in the church of Scotland, Beith was one of seven ministers appointed to preach at Strathbogie in 1842 in spite of the prohibition of the civil courts. He left the established church and formed the free church of Scotland with 474 other ministers. He took a prominent role in religious education and other matters affecting the new religious denomination. The University of Princeton, U.S.A. conferred an honorary degree of D.D. in 1850. He is said to have advocated the critical study of the scriptures and his theological position was broad and liberal (Johnstone 164).

Among his works are: A Treatise on the Baptist Controversy. 1823. A Catechism on Baptism. 1824. Sorrowing yet Rejoicing. Edinburgh, 1839. The Two Witnesses of the Apocalypse Traced in History. Edinburgh, 1846. Christ our Life: Discourses on St. John 1856-57. Scottish Reformers and Martyrs, 1860. Three Weeks with Dr. Candish: a Highland Tour. Edinburgh, 1874 Memories of Disruption Times: A Chapter in Autobiography. London, 1877. The Woman of Samaria. 1880.

Johnstone, T.B. Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. I Sidney Lee, ed. Smith, Elder, & Co.: London, 1901. 163 - 164.

Kirk, John Foster. Allibone's Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1891. 122.